As a super busy family of five, sometimes the dinner moment is a text – “what do you want for dinner?” – and then just winging it with something easy. And this is totally ok; there is nothing wrong with macaroni and cheese or hot dogs or sandwiches. However, I know that as a mom, it makes me feel a little better when I have something prepared, when I’ve had the time and forethought to throw something a bit fun together. This is why I love my crockpot!
Chicken Parm
I want to share some of my favorite crockpot recipes that require minimal ingredients and even less effort. I want to be able to toss it all in the crockpot and walk away – so here we go!
When I tell you that my whole family ate this, that includes ALL my children and even our friends! I’ve already bought the ingredients to do it again, it will definitely be a go-to!
You need:
- 4 boneless chicken breasts
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 c parmesean cheese
- 3 c marinara sauce
- 6 oz Mozzarella cheese
- 16 oz pasta noodles, if desired
- Spray your crockpot and lay the chicken breasts inside.
- Mix your seasonings and sprinkle over the chicken, patting so it sticks.
- Sprinkle Parmesean cheese over the chicken, then pour the Marinera sauce on top so that it covers the top and sides of the chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 3.5 hours.
- Uncover and sprinkle mozzerlla cheese over the chicken, then cover and cook for another 30mins.
- If you are going to serve this over pasta as I did, go ahead and get that started at that started at this point. You could also just serve the chicken as is from here with some veggies!
Taco Soup
It says soup, but I honestly ate it with chips like a dip for nachos.
You need:
- 2lb ground beef
- 2 8oz packages of cream cheese
- 2 10oz can Rotel
- 3 tbsp taco seasoning
- 4 c chicken broth
- Scoop chips
- Brown the meat until fully cooked.
- While the meat is cooking, combine the cream cheese, rotel, and taco seasonign to the crockpot. Drain the liquid from the meat and add it to the crockpot. Stir to combine all the ingredients. Pour the chicken broth.
- Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours.
My personal notes:
- I added black beans (drained) for some more protein. I feel that you could really add whatever you really enjoy to this and it would be great!
- I prefer chicken or turkey to ground beef, but it’s totally your preference.
- I did not use the whole amount of chicken broth. I am not really big into soups in general and I anticipated it being a hard sell to my toddlers. So I probably only used 3 cups so that it would be a little chunkier, knowing I was going to serve it with chips. They loved it! I was even able to serve it to my 1yr old.
Ranch Chicken
Y’all, this is so easy.
You need:
- 3 Chicken breasts
- 1 8oz block cream cheese
- 1 package ranch dressing mix
- Place chicken in crock pot.
- Sprinkle dressing across the top.
- Lay block of cream cheese on top.
- Cook on high for 4 hours.
Viola! My go to is serving this with pasta, and I love to sneak some veggies in there by stirring some broccoli or peas in at the end.